Isotek Power & Distribution

[Dreamsystem]

Hey.

Need some help on designing the power.

I am finishing up 2 systems for 2 zones:

1) MCINTOSH D1100/(2)MC275s
2) MCINTOSH C2600/MC452 + MARANTZ 7055 (125Wx5)

I have been reading about how important the power and delivery is to the SQ of a system. Even more than interconnects and speaker cables. So I want to focus here first. Right now I have furman and a panamax. So go figure...

From what Ive read here in the forum, there are several brands out there, each one its plus and minus.

Right now looking at Isotek, they look to be on the top end and Ive read some good reviews. Plus they have the cables matched up to the power distributor, I can imagine they have designed the cables to match what the PD does. (hopefully its not a marketing thing..)

Buying the Sigmas PD and Optimum cables puts me waaaay over the top. SO Ive been looking at the Aquarius PD and Elite cables.

Has anyone tried these two? with a system that requires similar amounts of power? I would really like to keep it at $500/$600 per cable + a $2K PD by going with the Aquarius/Elite combo, or any other brand that is better for the buck. Unless of course the SQ increases so much that a $6K per system is warranted....

Any suggestions/ideas are most welcome...

Thanks.

[Masterlu]

My pick would be WW Silver Electra PC’s and PS Audio P5

Remarkably good sound quality/synergy and in line with your budget at AA Subscriber discount pricing.

[vintage_tube]

What are you trying to fix? How steady and reliable is your AC? Plug a volt/ohm meter in an outlet and monitor for awhile -- I have an AC meter in an outlet and monitor 24x7. Just for piece of mind and as an overall indicator of the AC service I'm provided.

Depends on your answer IMHO. AC reliability towards that steady 120v number varies practically from block to block and in some areas of the country its quite horrific.

Best Sir,

Bob

[Mouse]

I have borrowed an isotek aquarius for a demo. I own a Panamax.
The aquarius significantly cut noise in my system. I ended ordered the sigmas on the word that it's significantly better, and the promise they'd take it back if I didn't like it.
My goal was to get blacker blacks, and when my system was paused I didn't want to hear a hum. The aquarius made a big impact, as would probably all other top tier power conditioners.

I'm not at that level where one power cable makes a big difference, but I have demo'd some cables and heard the differences in other systems.
On a demo in a system with all top end Nordost they took one power cable to a preamp and put a normal power cord and the difference was noticeable. However I bought a Shunyata Delta NR and put it on my preamp, I didn't hear any difference, but I didn't expect anything significant considering it's connected to a Panamax and all my other cables are low cost.

I really wanted to hear a Shunyata HYDRA DPC-6, PS5, and the Mc MPC1500 in my system, but a demo wasn't available to me.

Shunyata's claim is that they deliver power first and foremost.
PS Audio's claim is that they take normal power and regenerate it into perfect sine wave electricity, or their own version of a sine wave.

I wish I could tell you that the Aquarius had amazing power that upgraded the sound but I can't. My demo was very short and my cables are stock. I can tell you that the Aquarius is awesome compared to my Panamax though.

Here's my negative critique. The salesguy is excited about isotek, but he demo'd the aquarius and didn't like it compared to sigmas. He demo'd the sigmas and loved it, but it was out of his budget so he just put in nothing. If you look at the back there aren't many receptacles.

What I liked about aquarius: It filtered noise perfectly, I had a demo with a local dealer who trusts me, I like it's low key looks doesn't compete with the Mc (not quite as good as Shunyata though). It's low profile so it will fit in my cabinet between the amp and the center channel speaker. I like the aesthetic that instead of some LEDs that compete with Mc they have a plate with a logo and I think a hologram. I wish the Sigmas didn't light up with the voltage meter.

Sigmas vs Aquarius?
RFI reduction 75 vs 60.
The two high current outlets are identical in power 3680 watts continuous, but the remaining 4 outlets are 2300 vs 1,150 watts continuous.
My sales guy said it's significant in how much better the sigmas is in filtering compared to aquarius.
I bought the same meter Cailen used in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6f1kwyZbM8 to measure and see how well my power is. You take the meter, and calibrate your dirty power to "100" so you can see what level the filtered power will look like. The Panamax noise was between 2.0 and 0.6, while the aquarius stayed between 0 and 0.2. It was at 0 (for what the device was capable of measuring for) for most of the time so I doubt the sigmas could really be significantly better.

I wish I could be more helpful.

[Mouse]

As a disclaimer I'm an ametuer in this hobby as you can probably tell.

[Msegal]

First get the best power to the room.
10 or 12 gauge individual lines to high quality outlets.
This is more important than any conditioner.
Once this is done I would recommend high quality power cords over power conditioners. Spend the $6K on Shunyata cables to everything. Finally, go fo4 the conditioner when finances permit.
This will get you serial improvements without needing to trade in or sell equipment/cables for big losses.

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by Msegal

First get the best power to the room.
10 or 12 gauge individual lines to high quality outlets.
This is more important than any conditioner.
Once this is done I would recommend high quality power cords over power conditioners. Spend the $6K on Shunyata cables to everything. Finally, go fo4 the conditioner when finances permit.
This will get you serial improvements without needing to trade in or sell equipment/cables for big losses.

Not bad advice. I'm in the process of running 10 gauge copper to a dedicated line to my home theater with a 20 amp breaker. It's a lot cheaper than a high end cable if the access is easy. A premium outlet will cost 30 on the low end if you went with a hospital grade hubbel, and about 200$ on the high end with furetech. I think Masterlu is a dealer for Furetech outlets too. I'm going with audioquest edisons but I'm installing 6 of them through the home.

[SCAudiophile]

Originally Posted by Msegal

First get the best power to the room.
10 or 12 gauge individual lines to high quality outlets.
This is more important than any conditioner.
Once this is done I would recommend high quality power cords over power conditioners. Spend the $6K on Shunyata cables to everything. Finally, go fo4 the conditioner when finances permit.
This will get you serial improvements without needing to trade in or sell equipment/cables for big losses.

Great advice throughout this thread and the above!

A few thoughts on "back to basics" things to get right before spending thousands on power cables and conditioners;

- For 3 different houses, I've found using 10-gauge over 12 for a 20-amp circuit even though 12-gauge is all that is needed has resulted in much better dynamics and seemingly unlimited headroom. I use straight Southwire Romex SIMpull available at Lowe's for the current and past house with great results, no cryo, no $30-$60 (USD) per foot 'fancy audiophile cable' in the walls need, all much easier than the 1st house that I went with hand-pulled wire through MC-Lite conduit, J-boxes, etc...I learned the hard way that using MC-Lite (metal) conduit and (metal) J-boxes is a real PITA to get the ground potentials exactly the same on multiple duplexes, and other related issues. Hand-pulling wire through 80+ feet of MC-Lite will also have even the friendliest electrician cursing at you (me) :-)

- Next lower cost item to focus on is dual ground rods (IMHO) with CADWELD-bonded ground wires perma-bonded to the rods; the difference was huge....

- Next step is optional but gave huge dividends; Environmental Potentials EP-2050 Waveform regenerator & surge protection ($800) on the main house panel right off the mains and EP-2750 Ground Filters ($175 each) on any audio or video circuit in the main panel or sub-panel; everything will get better even your normal high-def cable TV watching the minute you throw the main house breaker to "ON"...

All that stated,...Isotek Elite power cords are good,...used to have one between my TITAN and SIGMAS as a unifying umbilical and still have one on my OPPO 105D in the living room. They are quite good for the $$$.

Isotek OPTIMUM power cords (have one as the umbilical between TITAN and SIGMAS are noticeably better than the ELITE particularly with respect to enhancing the speed and depth of upper and lower bass. If you can get an OPTIMUM for your most critical things or else to your power conditioner

Shunyata SIGMA NR (which I've tested) is a tremendous and amazing power cord; best that Caelin & team have ever created (and I used to own aLOT of Shunyata cords....) IMHO. $3K for standard length but tons of bang for the buck! A truly serious, world-class power cord!

Shunyata Alpha power cords (latest) and Delta are also equally impressive at their respective price points.

Aquarius versus Sigmas from Isotek: I've tried the EVO2 generation of Sigmas and own the EVO3 generation of TITAN and SIGMAS. Big difference between the 2 and the EVO3 of anything from Isotek. Focus on the EVO3 generation....I have not tried the Aquarius but know 2 guys who own it and love it; both have heard the SIGMAS as has 1 guy I know who upgraded from Aquarius to SIGMAS and they say the differences are noticeable but both deliver equivalent to their price point and beyond.

Isotek power conditioners are some of "the" finest in the world; clean, tons of headroom/dynamics, very musical effect in system after their application, etc....

Shunyata Denali and TRITON v3: To my ears in testing believe these are the finest Shunyata have ever built and each amazing in their own right. The TRITON v3 continues to drop my jaw at just how fantastic it is. The grounding plane/star-grounding attach points on each of them is an outright brilliant stroke and I cannot say enough good things about the latest gen of Shunyata power conditioners. I cannot wait to see what taking the 'stack' route by adding a full Typhon QR tethered to a Triton v3 will be capable of.
I don't have any experience with AQ power cords in the last 7 years so cannot comment on something I believe was asked earlier. Don't overlook these conditioners now or in the future IMHO...

FWIW...

[Dreamsystem]

Originally Posted by vintage_tube

What are you trying to fix? How steady and reliable is your AC? Plug a volt/ohm meter in an outlet and monitor for awhile -- I have an AC meter in an outlet and monitor 24x7. Just for piece of mind and as an overall indicator of the AC service I'm provided.

Depends on your answer IMHO. AC reliability towards that steady 120v number varies practically from block to block and in some areas of the country its quite horrific.

Best Sir,

Bob

Hey Bob. Thanks.

I have a panamax connected and it does give me volt situation, its very stable at 120v so no issues there. The ohm I havent measured it, but will try.

Not trying to fix anything, just improving the current available to the amps (been reading how important it is). I have very little knowledge on this subject so going over to basics and trying to set up something with out over spending.

Thanks!!

[Dreamsystem]

Originally Posted by Mouse

As a disclaimer I'm an ametuer in this hobby as you can probably tell.

Amateur?? Hahaha, buddy youre like a encyclopedia compared to me!

Thanks for the input. Really appreciate it.